Miami mall shut down by police as rumors of “8-10ft” aliens inside go viral
Twitter: JustXAshton, MattFrenchArtFootage of cop cars swarming a Miami mall has sparked rumors of “8-10ft shadow aliens” being responsible for the massive police presence called to the shopping center.
Chaos broke out at the Bayside Marketplace in Miami, Florida on New Year’s Day after a large group of “unruly juveniles” sparked a riot at the open-air mall.
Reports state that the teens were shooting off fireworks and causing panic among shoppers. The sound of fireworks caused one resident to mistake them for gunshots, who called police to alert them of a potential shooting situation.
As a result, a massive swarm of cop cars gathered around the shopping center around 8 PM that evening. Footage from the event went viral across social media days later— but not for the reasons you might expect.
Miami mall ‘alien’ incident goes viral on social media
Several threads have now gone viral online as netizens claim that, instead of teenagers disrupting the mall, “8-10ft tall shadow aliens” were to blame for the swath of police that showed up at the scene.
“Some witnesses are reporting 8-10 foot shadow beings were being shot at by people, with others fleeing,” one viral post claims on Twitter/X. “Supposedly people went into fight or flight mode.”
Still others are zooming in on one of the videos taken from the incident, with one user claiming to see a “gray creature walking in between these police cars and the building.”
However, still, more netizens aren’t convinced that aliens were the ones responsible for the incident, with many mocking the theory in humorous posts.
Are the Miami mall alien rumors true?
So… were there really aliens at the Bayside Marketplace? Thus far, no official reports have claimed as such, nor do they include any supposed witness statements about tall shadow creatures that are circulating online.
In fact, Miami police have now debunked the claims of aliens running amok at the Bayside Marketplace. In response to a viral video seemingly showing a shadowy figure, a Miami PD spokesperson said: “What is seen in this clip is the shadow of someone walking. If you look at the bottom of the shadow, you can see the person. No creature.”
Despite this, plenty of social media users are still convinced that the number of officers who showed up to the scene was “disproportionally large for kids fighting with sticks.”
Reports from NBC Miami state that four teens were arrested as a result of the riot for assaulting a man at the scene. Miami police say that two of the teens are facing charges on “burglary unoccupied conveyance, grand theft, battery, and resisting an officer without violence.”